Two Brothers
by Nowhere in Particular
Summary: One shot. The reason Nuka's so messed up, and how they found Kovu. Read and review please!


Nuka's eyes were bloodshot. He hadn't slept at all last night, and he owed _that_ to Janga.

A little tan cub skipped up to him. "Morning, brother mine!" he said cheerfully. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"Maybe if you got some _sleep _last night," Nuka growled.

"Whoa. Someone got up on the wrong side of the rock today."

"Zip it, Janga!" Nuka snarled.

"Fine, Mr. Grouchy. Have it your way." Janga trotted off towards a small group of cubs paying "Capture the Flag" on the other side of the grounds.

Nuka wandered silently to his spot by the river and sat down among the reeds, making swirling patters in the sand with his tail. He looked back at the playing cubs and stuck his tongue out at them.

"Can I play?" Janga asked.

"Sure!" a brown cub replied. "You can be on my team!"

"That's not fair!" replied another cub. "Then _we_ have less lions!"

"You can always get Nuka," Janga said.

The second cub wrinkled his nose. "No way. Nuka stinks, and so do his game plans. And he's always snapping at me."

"Then stop complaining. Move it or lose it, Jani," the first cub said. "Common, Janga." She nipped at his heels and walked back to her team. "New game!" She shouted.

Janga looked over at his brother, sitting by himself next to the river, drawing circles in the sand with his tail, then turned back to the little lioness. "Wait for me, Tausi!"

Nuka growled at his reflection in the water. "What are you looking at?" he asked, batting it with his paw. Large ripples spread across the surface of the water. "Stupid Janga thinks he's _soooo_ cool cuz he has _friends_. Friends are overrated!" he practically shouted the last, but managed to cover his mouth just as it was coming out. He didn't want the others to hear. They'd start moaning about how _desperate_ he was or how he should be more like Janga.

And his mother was the worst! Anything Nuka did, Janga did better. Janga always got praised for his efforts, and Nuka always got shouted at for his own. Janga always got a bath first, and Nuka always got shoved into the river before hand. Janga _always_ had the _best_ stories of cubs slaying giant twelve-foot crocodiles, while Nuka only ever got a glare for his attempts.

Why couldn't he be more like Janga? His brother had the whole pride fawning over him, and Nuka wanted that, especially if it came from Tausi. He had had a crush on Tausi for as long as he could remember. She was the prettiest, she was the funniest, she was the fastest, strongest, and sweetest of all the cubs; and she had a crush on Janga.

He batted the water again. "Stupid Janga," he whispered, barley loud enough for his own ears.

"I got it!" Janga said, snapping up the makeshift flag. "I got it! I win!"

Tausi and the other cubs let out jubilant roars and tackled him—a painful way to show you care, but a way none the less.

"That was amazing, Janga," Chura said, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Thank you," Janga said, smiling.

"Look at them, fawning over him, just because he got a stupid two-bit leaf on a stick." Nuka stuck his pink tongue out again and planted his bottom under a tree. Shortly after, he heard the soft padding of small paws coming up behind him.

"Hey Nuka!"

"Go _away_, Janga!"

Janga sat down next to his brother. "Why?"

"Cuz you're getting on my nerves," Nuka growled.

"All I did was say 'hi,'" he said. And then, after a short silence, "I got this for you." He held out a leaf stuck to a stick.

Nuka slapped it into the water with his paw and turned so his back was facing his brother. "Not interested."

"You really _should_ play sometimes. It's not healthy to sit here all alone all day long, all month long, all year long, all…"

"OKAY, I GET IT!" Nuka snapped. "I don't want to play with you and your loser friends!"

"How come your so anti-social?" Janga asked. He was used to having these semi-one-sided conversations, and he could keep them up for quite awhile. Until Nuka said something particularly idiotic or hurtful, anyways.

"Leave."

"See, that's what I'm taking about. You never wanna open up to anyone," Janga continued, "and maybe if you smiled once in a while the others would start liking you."

"I don't wanna open up, I don't wanna smile and I DON'T WANT CUBS TO START LIKING ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Nuka pounced on Janga and bit him hard on the neck.

Janga yowled and sprang up, backing away slowly. "Why are you so mean?" he asked. He raised a paw to where Nuka had bitten him and touched something wet and sticky. "You made me bleed! I'm telling mother!" He bounded up the side of the cliff and disappeared into one of the caves.

"Mom, Nuka bit me and it's bleeding!" Janga wailed.

Zira looked up at him, a little bundle of fur stuck between her paws, wiggling and squirming, trying to get away. The little fur ball still had her spots.

"What?" she asked.

"He bit me and it really, really hurts!"

Zira stood up and stepped over the spotty cub, pushed passed Janga, and slipped through the door.

"Nuka gunna geddid now!" the spotty one said, her blue eyes following the lioness as she went.

"Shut up, Vitani," Janga growled, picking her up in his mouth and walking out after his mother.

"Nuka!" Zira howled.

Nuka looked up slowly, not daring to match his mother's eyes. "Yes, mother?" he asked quietly.

"What is the meaning of this?" Zira asked.

Nuka knew she meant the bite, and he knew the answer, but his tongue wouldn't move, so all that came out was a silent, high pitched whimper.

Janga put baby Vitani down on the ground. "We were just playing, Mother," he said in a hushed voice, fearing that she may be provoked by anything louder. "It was an accident. We got carried away, I guess. He…he didn't _mean_ anything by it."

Nuka nodded. His ears were pressed flat against his head, and his tail was squeezed against his shaking body. "I'm sorry, Mother," he managed.

"Janga," Zira said, "take your sister back to the cave and take a nap."

Janga picked Vitani up in his mouth and walked slowly and quietly back up the hill.

"MOVE!" Zira shouted.

He broke into a run, streaked into the cave and dropped Vitani in the corner, then curled up into a ball and listened.

He could hear nothing for a few long minutes, but then a sharp yowl that cut through the cave like a dagger. Vitani shoved her head under his paw.

"Whaddapend?" she asked quietly.

Janga covered her mouth. "Quiet. Go to sleep. Don't make her angry."

Nuka waked silently into the cave, head down, tail dragging. He made his way slowly into the corner of the cave furthest from his siblings and circled, then lay down and covered his eyes with his paw.

A furry body settled down next to him. "Don't cry," Janga whispered. "I—I'm sorry." Janga nudged his head into Nuka's tummy. "I really am sorry."

"It's okay," Nuka whispered.

Janga yanked Nuka's ear. "Get _up_!" he snarled. "I—wanna—go—_play_!"

Nuka groaned and turned over on his side. "Play with Vitani. I'm busy."

"You're sleeping."

"I'm _busy_."

"Fine."

Janga nudged Vitani gently. "Wake up, little sister," he crooned.

Vitani swatted his head with a paw. "What do you want?" she asked, opening one eye.

"Last one to the river is slave for a day?" he pruposed.

Vitani jumped to her feet and bolted out the cave opening, Janga close at her heels. It had been two months since Nuka had bitten him, and the wound on Janga's neck was nothing but a faint outline you could only see if you looked for it in the new jungle of a mane that was starting to form around his head.

A small yowl.

Janga screeched to a stop as Vitani raced to the finish line. The yowl again.

"I WIN!" Vitani cried. She looked over her shoulder at her brother. "Hey! You didn't even try!"

"Hush, Vitani!" he snapped. He listened, and then the yowling sound again, from somewhere in the tall grass.

He dived in and waded through, the grass tickling his nose. He sneezed loudly and the yowling started up again, only louder this time, and more frequently.

"What is he doing?" Vitani asked. She looked around. "Who am I talking to?"

She watched as Janga disappeared under the lush green sea. She started to count…1…2…3…4….

He appeared again, and he was carrying something in his mouth.

"What's that?!" she shouted.

He didn't answer, just waded back through the grass, head held high.

She ran and met him at the edge, where the short meets the tall, jumping up and down to see what he had in his mouth.

"What is it, what is it?!" she shouted impatiently. "Can I eat it? What's it taste like? Is it dead?"

"Nuh sh nah deh!" he answered through a mouthful of…whatever.

"What?"

"Wake up, you useless hunk of fat," Zira said, kicking Nuka in the side.

He jerked awake and stared around the cave. His tired eyes found his mother's. "Good morning, Mother," he said.

"Go find your sister and brother," Zira snapped.

Nuka stretched and flexed his paws.

"NOW!"

He whimpered and shot out of the cave.

"What _is_ it, for crying out loud!" Vitani growled snapping at her brother's heels.

"Owsh!" he cried, lifting up his paw. He kicked Vitani away gently and laid the limp thing on the ground at his feet. He nudged it with his nose. "Wake up, little one," he whispered.

The thing yowled weakly and lifted its head. Vitani gasped. It was a chocolate brown cub about her age.

The cub looked around. "Wha…" he said silently. "Where am I? What happened?"

"Hey there," Janga said. "My name's Janga, this is my sister, Vitani. What's your name?"

"Um…I—I can't remember. Where am I?" he asked again, struggling to his feet.

"Your in the Outlands. Where's your mother, little guy?" Janga asked, helping the little cub up.

"I—I don't know. I—I can't remember anything."

"Well, that sucks," Vitani said, pouncing on him.

Janga picked her up by the scruff of the neck and dragged her away. "Leave him alone, Vitani. Let him get his bearings."

"His…his what?" Vitani asked.

Nuka stumbled down the hill towards the river.

He saw the crouched figures of his siblings. They were hovering over something, though what it was he didn't know.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Mother's lookin' for ya!"

He sprinted the rest of the distance separating them and stopped short, staring at the bundle at Janga's feet, which was now standing uneasily on its own.

"Where the _heck_ did you get that?" he asked.

"Found him in the grass," Janga said.  
"Where's your mother, kid?" Nuka asked.

"I don't know," the cub replied, staring wide-eyed at the newcomer.

"He doesn't remember anything," Vitani said.

"Mother's not going to like this," Nuka said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Not going to like _what_, Nuka?"

Nuka skyrocketed five feet into the air.

"I found him in the grass," Janga said. "He doesn't remember anything."

"Not even his name," Vitani added.

Zira pushed the cub's head up. "Uh huh. You're right, Nuka. I don't like this. I don't like this one bit. Put him back where you found him, Janga," she instructed.

"You mean, just leave him here?" Janga asked.

"That's exactly what I mean."

"Well…no. No, I won't do it. That's…that's _cruel_ and…he'll die if…No. I can't—I _won't_—leave him here to die," Janga said, pulling the cub between his legs protectively.

Zira lifted an eyebrow at him. "Is that so?" she asked.

"I'll take care of him. Me and Nuka."

"What?" Nuka asked. "When did I get dragged into this? I won't do it, mother, because I listen to you."

"Good boy, Nuka. Why can't you be more like your brother, Janga?" she asked.

Nuka swelled with pride. For one, it was "Janga, be like Nuka", not the other way around, as it so often had been.

"I won't," Janga objected.

Zira roared menacingly and the cub cringed between his legs.

"I won't," he repeated.

They glared at each other for what seemed like hours, until finally, "Fine. You can keep him. But you hunt, you clean up after him, understand?" Zira growled.

Janga smiled. "Yes mother. Thank you."

She curled her lip at him and stalked away.

Nuka stood, gaping, at his brother. There it was again; the Janga eludes all. If he had been the one to find the cub, he never would have been able to keep it!

Nuka glowered at his brother, but Janga wasn't paying attention.

"I think I'll call you Kovu," he said to the cub between his legs. "How's that sound?"

Kovu nodded.

"Good. Common Vitani, common Kovu. Let's head home. You coming Nuka?"

"Where's Janga?" Kovu asked.

"Hunting," Nuka growled.

"Still?"

"Yup."

"But he's been gone for _hours_!"

"Yup."

"Where's he hunting?"

"Who cares?"

"I do."

"I don't."

"Where's Janga?"

"Go play with Vitani!" Nuka snapped impatiently.

"Okay." Kovu skipped off and joined Vitani, playing with a stick in the center of the cave.

"Nuka!" Zira howled.

"Yes mother!" Nuka answered, snapping to attention.

"Where's your brother?" she asked.

"Still out hunting, mother," Nuka replied nervously.

"Go and find him."

"Yes, mother," Nuka said wearily, walking head down out of the cave.

Kovu and Vitani trotted up to his heels.

"Where ya going?" Vitani asked.

"Find Janga," he replied.

"Can we come?" Kovu asked.

"No."

"Mother," Vitani howled, "can we go with Nuka to find Janga?"

Nuka looked pleadingly over his shoulder.

Zira saw him and grinned evilly. "Of course. I think your brother would appreciate the company, wouldn't you Nuka?"

Nuka sighed. "Of course, mother."

Nuka walked down the hill for the umpteenth time in his life, towards the hunting grounds, the two cubs playing at his feet. They were growling and pouncing on each other, chewing on ears and tails. Nuka remembered how he had never played like that, and had never wanted to. It seemed a foolish thing now, especially since he had a perfectly good brother to do it to.

"Is that an elephant?" Kovu asked, pointing to a vast grey animal with tusks twice as big as his body.

"No, it's a warthog," Nuka snarled sarcastically.

"I don't think…"

"He's being sarcastic, Kovu," Vitani said, rolling her eyes. "Hey look! There's Janga!"

A tan lion walked unsteadily towards them. He let out a small roar, and the cubs bounded off to meet him.

Nuka rolled his eyes. Look at how they swarmed around him. Soon they would be tumbling in the grass together, _playing_. And then Janga would carry them home on his back. He was such a suck up!

And yet, Nuka couldn't help feeling the slightest bit jealous. Everything in his brother's life was perfect, every thing from his early mane to his girlfriend, Tausi. All of lionesses _loved _Janga, and all the lions wished that they _were_ Janga. Why couldn't Nuka have that? Why was everyone always trying to avoid…

Vitani's piercing scream broke through his thoughts like a foghorn on a soundless night.

Nuka shook his head and focused his eyes on the cubs. There's Kovu, there's Vitani, there's…Janga? Where's….

"NUKA!" Vitani screamed.

Nuka shot forward, covering the distance between them in seconds with his long, powerful stride. Vitani met him a ways away from her new brother. "Janga's…he's," she stuttered.

He leapt over her and slowed to a walk near where Kovu stood.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Kovu whimpered and lay down in the grass, obscuring himself from view.

As Nuka walked, he stepped in something wet…hot…_sticky_. His eyes grew wide. He knew what was wrong, even before he saw….

Kovu was laying belly down on the grass, his face hidden in Janga's emerging black mane.

Nuka could hear his brother's shallow breathing. He moved in closer. Blood was seeping down Janga's belly, staining his flawless fur. There was a gaping hole on his side, so deep you could see two rib bones beneath the flesh, both broken and jagged.

"Kovu, Vitani," Nuka whispered, "run and get mother."

"But," Kovu protested.

"NOW!" He took up the tone his mother had so often used on him, the one that made him fear for his life.

Kovu leapt up from Janga's side and sprinted back towards the cave, Vitani following close behind.

Nuka lay down on the grass beside his brother and listened to his breathing, rapid and sharp, as his mind ran through all the first aid he had ever learned—which wasn't much. He started to wonder why he had ever been spiteful towards his brother. It seemed so foolish now, when he thought he was going to loose him forever.

"Hey Nuka?"

Nuka looked at Janga. One of his bright blue eyes was open, and looking straight at him. "Yeah?" Nuka asked, meeting his brother's one-eyed stare.

"How come you hate me so much?" Janga asked. His voice was scarcely more than a whisper, and it frightened Nuka.

"I don't hate you," he reassured his brother.

"You never wanted to do anything with me."

"That's just the way I am," Nuka replied, nudging his brother's nose with his own.

Janga laughed weakly.

There was silence once more, and Nuka found his eyes wondering towards the open wound on Janga's side.

"Hey Nuka?"

"Yeah?" His eyes met Janga's once more.

"Am I gonna die?"

Nuka didn't answer. He didn't want to answer. He knew he should have, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He couldn't be sure what would happen, and he didn't want to lie, not now.

"Watch the cubs for me, okay? And don't let mother throw Kovu out. He's got nowhere to go," Janga said.

Nuka saw a small tear run down his brother's powerful jaw, and his own vision started to cloud. He tucked his head under Janga's and let the tears go, slowly and silently. He had never cried before, not really. You never _really_ cry until you see your brother dying. You're never really sad until you realize you can't do anything about it.

"Hey Nuka?" Janga asked again.

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget me, okay?"

"No way," Nuka replied.

Janga smiled his last, a smile Nuka didn't see, and took his final, shallow breath.

Zira nudged Janga's muzzle with her own. When he didn't respond, she let out a mournful roar, and turned away. She spotted Kovu, watching from a small distance away, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. She stepped over Nuka, whose head was still buried in Janga's neck, and walked up to the brown cub.

She glared at Vitani, and the young lioness crept away, towards the lifeless form of her recent brother, Janga, and the quivering bulk of her living brother Nuka. She pawed at Nuka's tummy and whispered something, something Zira couldn't hear.

She glanced back at Kovu and lowered her head so she was eye to eye with him.

Kovu lifted his front paw a little, but otherwise stood his ground and stared back at Zira, glaring at her the way she had always glared at him.

"He was supposed to be king," she told the cub. "He was next in line. He was chosen because he was brave, and cunning, and never backed down from a fight.

"I see him in you, little Kovu. One day…one day, you will be a king."


End file.
